ACT government to find out how Garran Surge Centre can be reused

The same consultants will also determine the process for dismantling the centre and whether remediation of Garran Oval will need to occur.

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the territory government would also have discussions with the Commonwealth about whether they had any opportunities to use the centre.

The pop-up health facility will close next week, nearly three years after the government commissioned the $14 million building with the intention of using it as a COVID emergency department.

"At the time we built the surge centre in early-2020 we envisaged it might be there for six months, it's now been there for nearly three years," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"We've got a bit of work to do to understand what it's going to take to decommission that and whether reuse is an option and, if so, what that looks like and also to look at how we're going to refurbish the Garran Oval site as well."

Ms Stephen-Smith said the government really wanted to ensure the centre could be repurposed and would not rule out whether it could be reused for something other than a health facility.

The centre was never used for its intended purpose, instead it has been used to administer vaccinations, for PCR testing and as a COVID-specific walk-in centre.

The closure of the surge centre will coincide with the ACT government dropping special laws which allowed ministers to make decisions around certain public health directions in relation to COVID.

There is only one remaining direction in place, which is the mandatory requirement for people to report a positive rapid antigen test result.

The territory is the only remaining Australian jurisdiction to have this requirement.

Ms Stephen-Smith said the territory had left the requirement in place for longer than other states because ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman wanted to keep it in place over the December and January when there was a spike in COVID cases.

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But she said it was not needed as case numbers had stabilised.

Ms Stephen-Smith also said many people were probably not reporting positive test results. She even said people may have been deterred from testing.

"It may even be deterring people from undertaking tests because they know that they have been mandatorily required to report that result," she said.

People will still be able to report rapid antigen tests and the government is encouraging this.

There will also be changes to PCR testing. People with a concession card will be able to access a test without a referral but everybody else will need a referral to receive a test.

Weekly case numbers will still be released based on the number of reported positive tests.

Ms Stephen-Smith said hospitalisations and general interaction with the health system of people who have COVID will be an important indicator of what is happening with the virus.

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